Vet assistant pay in the US
Vet assistants in the US: $15 to $24 an hour in job ads
From 3,115 job ads at 373 employers, updated Nov 9, 2026
$20 an hour, median in job ads
Updated Nov 9, 2026. Each employer counts once, however many ads it posts. Hourly ads only, never converted.
Hourly and yearly ads, kept apart
Posted hourly$15 to $24 median $20
Posted yearly$39,000 to $102,000 median $56,000
Each range runs from the 10th to the 90th percentile across employers. Each employer counts once, at the middle of its own ads' stated pay, so a group hiring at many hospitals is one employer. An ad that states no unit is not counted, and hourly is never converted to yearly.
Pay by state
Median vet assistant pay an hour in job ads, highest first. Tap a state for its page.
- California$22387 ads
- Maine$2216 ads
- Washington$22134 ads
- Colorado$21119 ads
- Connecticut$2130 ads
- Maryland$2181 ads
- Massachusetts$21127 ads
- New Jersey$2165 ads
- New York$21179 ads
- Oregon$2156 ads
- Arizona$2063 ads
- Hawaii$205 ads
- Illinois$2074 ads
- Minnesota$2084 ads
- Montana$2011 ads
- Nevada$2025 ads
- New Hampshire$2027 ads
- Vermont$209 ads
- Idaho$1913 ads
- Iowa$1913 ads
- Michigan$1941 ads
- Missouri$1940 ads
- North Carolina$19128 ads
- South Carolina$1955 ads
- Utah$1916 ads
- Virginia$19124 ads
- Georgia$1898 ads
- New Mexico$1815 ads
- Ohio$1857 ads
- Pennsylvania$1878 ads
- Florida$17189 ads
- Indiana$1736 ads
- Kansas$1728 ads
- Kentucky$1723 ads
- Tennessee$1775 ads
- Wisconsin$1733 ads
- Alabama$1628 ads
- Arkansas$168 ads
- Mississippi$169 ads
- Texas$16178 ads
- Louisiana$1518 ads
- Oklahoma$1424 ads
Ball size shows how many ads each median rests on.
States with 5 or more vet assistant ads stating pay, Nov 9, 2026.
What the jobs offer
CE allowance19% (1,147 of 5,914 ads)
Mentorship14% (827 of 5,914 ads)
New grads welcome8% (501 of 5,914 ads)
Four-day week1% (83 of 5,914 ads)
Signing bonus0% (6 of 5,914 ads)
Counted only where the ad's own words say it, out of all 5,914 open vet assistant ads on Nov 9, 2026, including ads that state no pay. The pay figures above use only ads that state hourly or yearly pay. Each ball is 10%.
Hiring now
Questions
How much do vet assistants make?
Job ads in the US offer vet assistants $15 to $24 an hour, median $20, from 3,115 ads at 373 employers (Nov 9, 2026). The BLS median for vet assistants in the US was $18.34 an hour in May 2025.
Which states pay vet assistants the most?
Among states with 5 or more vet assistant ads stating pay, the highest medians are California at $22 an hour (387 ads), Maine at $22 an hour (16 ads), Washington at $22 an hour (134 ads), as of Nov 9, 2026.
What benefits do vet assistant jobs offer?
Of 5,914 vet assistant ads, 1,147 mention a CE allowance, 827 mention mentorship, 501 mention welcoming new grads, 83 mention a four-day week, 6 mention a signing bonus, as of Nov 9, 2026. Only what the ad itself says is counted.
Sources
- Job ads, Nov 9, 2026. 3,115 open vet assistant ads in the US that state hourly pay, at 373 employers. 53 yearly ads are shown apart. An ad that states pay with no hour or year is left out. Read from employers' own job feeds and careers pages.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. Median pay for vet assistants in the US, $18.34 an hour, from a survey of employers. A separate source from the job ads, shown beside them and never mixed in.
- Benefits, Nov 9, 2026. Counted across all 5,914 open ads, whether or not they state pay.
Each job-ad figure is kept with the ad's own sentence. See also how often vets leave their practice.